Blue Economy: Reducing the impact of marine fisheries bycatch on biodiversity: policy, economic instruments and technical change

Serge Garcia, Jake Rice and Despina Symons actively participated in the IUCN Congress, held in Hawaii (1-10 September). FEG had been actively involved in the preparations throughout the year, participating in discussions and providing amendments to the draft motions being submitted by IUCN members with the view to ensure a balance and objectivity in their text and, later on in the deliberations and their outcomes. During the Congress, besides following and contributing to the discussions and exchanges in the various events in relation to fisheries as well as the contact groups negotiating the resolutions, FEG, through EBCD and in collaboration with various partners, organized and participated in various meetings. This workshop, chaired by D. Squires (NMFS) and S. Garcia (FEG) addressed the mitigation of bycatch impact on marine biodiversity. Four presentations were made on: (1) an assessment of the footprint of bottom fisheries on non-target bycatch species (Amoroso, University of Washington); (2) practical and legal implications of bycatch impact mitigation instruments (Garcia, and Squires); (3) the large range of economic instruments and incentives usable for biodiversity or environmental management that could be deployed to reduce/minimize unwanted bycatch (particularly of megafauna and threatened species) in both large and small-scale fisheries, as a complement to or replacement of conventional instruments, and with the active participation of industry and its innovative capacity (Squires and Garcia); and (4) a case study on a holistic compensatory approach to marine turtles conservation, using economic instruments (Dutton, NMFS).